Catholic Leaders Oppose New Cell Research

If Harvard researchers who created embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos hoped to defuse some of the ethical controversies surrounding stem cell research, they did not succeed.

Catholic leaders said Monday they remain opposed to any research that uses embryonic cells, whether or not they come from cell lines approved for research by President Bush.

``It's still creating and destroying life for the purposes of research,'' said Marie Hilliard, executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, the public policy office of the state's Catholic bishops. ``Using parts of a person that has already been killed is a process that dehumanizes us all.''

However, the technique of cell fusion used by Harvard researchers to create the stem cells intrigues Connecticut scientists for reasons other than to assuage ethical concerns. The method is a good way to investigate how skin and other easily obtainable cells can be reprogrammed to potentially repair damaged organs and tissue, said Diane Krause, a stem cell researcher at the Yale University School of Medicine.

And if technical difficulties with cell fusion can be overcome, it may allow scientists to create stem cells genetically identical to a patient's own cells without resorting to cloning human embryos, a practice that many have found morally objectionable.

The nature of the entity that was created by the Harvard team remains unclear. Scientists took a skin cell and fused it with an embryonic stem cell, which has the potential to become any cell in the human body.

The fused cell began to develop into different tissue types, just as embryonic stem cells do during normal development resulting from the union of sex cells. However, the two fused cells have two complete sets of paired-up chromosomes, rather than one, making it doubtful that those cells could ever be used for therapy or develop in a womb, said Theodore Rasmussen, an assistant professor at the Center for Regenerative Biology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

The fused cells might contain clues for scientists about how to coax easily obtained skin cells into becoming embryonic-like cells that could be used in the treatments of many different diseases, he said. And if scientists could find a way to extract the extra DNA from the embryonic stem cell, they might be able to create genetically identical stem cells without resorting to cloning.

The Harvard researchers pointed out in their study scheduled to be published later this week in the journal Science that ``a substantial technical barrier remains before [the fused human embryonic stem] cells could be used for therapeutic purposes.''

They also said they hoped the work would alleviate some of the moral concerns surrounding embryonic stem cell research.

However, preventing destruction of more embryos does not justify using cells that already have been taken from other embryos, which are usually obtained from leftover supplies at fertility clinics, Catholic officials say.

``It makes new cell lines from old ones, and we don't support that,'' said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the pro-life office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.